B.RAMAN
It was reported in our media after a press briefing
by Gen.Bikram Singh, our Chief of the Army Staff (COAS),on January 14,2013,
that intruding Pakistani troops had carried out two beheadings of Indian
soldiers even in 2011. For reasons unclear, neither the Government of India nor
the opposition nor the media chose to
publicise this incident. It was kept a well-guarded secret. There was no public
outrage and this incident did not impact on the on-going dialogue between the
two countries.
2.On January 8,2013, some Pakistani troops intruded
into Indian territory in the Jammu area, killed two Indian soldiers and beheaded
one of them. The details of the barbaric act were given wide publicity,
discussed in no-rhetoric-barred TV debates and gave rise to public outrage and
tough talk by the COAS. The opposition spearheaded by the BJP sought to exploit
the public outrage for partisan political purposes.
3. Why this difference in our reactions to the 2011
and 2013 beheadings? The answer is simple. In 2011, the election year 2014 was
far away. In 2013, it is just a few months away. There may be votes to be
gained by fanning further and exploiting the public outrage. The BJP was the
first to jump into the fray for indulging in the game of politicization of the
barbaric act in order to reiterate its demand, which has broad public support,
for a strong response to Pakistan, even if it meant freezing of the bilateral
dialogue. A number of senior retired
civilian and military officers joined the war dance promoted by our TV
channels. Anyone who kept out of this war dance was ridiculed as a softie.
4.It is against this background that one should
analyse the seeming metamorphosis of our
Prime Minister Dr.Manmohan Singh on January 15. On the occasion of a function
to observe the annual Army Day, one saw a transformation of Dr.Manmohan Singh
from a man of eternal goodwill to Pakistan to one of tough talk and action.
5.In his chat with a group of journalists at the
function, he was reported to have stated that those Pakistanis responsible for
the barbaric act will have to be brought to book and that “it cannot be business as usual with
Pakistan.” Simultaneously, the Government chose to send three messages of a new
activism on Pakistan to the Pakistani Government. These were the decision to
defer the implementation of the introduction of visa on arrival for senior
citizens from Pakistan, premature termination of a visit of Pakistani hockey
players and cancellation of the participation of some Pakistani women
cricketeers in an Indian tournament.
6.These measures, which are inconsequential, have
been projected as signs of a new toughness in the Government’s attitude to
Pakistan. The Government has also sought to open a dialogue with the BJP
towards a national consensus on our response to the barbaric act of Pakistan
7. The new Government activism and toughness seem
to be more opportunistic and tactical than genuine and strategic. Any euphoria
that the Government has at last woken up to the ground reality of a hostile
Pakistan will be unwarranted . It is essentially a pre-poll charade to deny the
BJP any pre-poll gains due to the public outrage. The charade will continue
till the public outrage continues. Thereafter, we will again be back to
business as usual.
8. A “Jaise The” (As You Were) can be prevented
only by the public and the opposition continuing to keep up the pressure on the
Government without letting themselves be disarmed by the seeming new toughness.
9.While the strategic dialogue with Pakistan should
continue, the Government should demonstrate its earnestness by announcing some
policy initiatives in consultation with the opposition. One such policy
initiative will be an announcement to revive and revamp the covert action
division of the intelligence community without specifically linking the action
to Pakistan. (16-1-13)
( The writer is Additional Secretary (retd),
Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director,
Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai, and Associate of the Chennai Centre for
China Studies, Twitter: @SORBONNE75 )
